Regardless of your practice area, responding to online reviews can benefit your law firm by building your credibility and attracting new clients. But to reap these benefits, not only do you need to ensure that your responses are swift, courteous, and professional-sounding – you also need to use the right tools for tracking and replying to reviews.
This guide will help you accomplish that goal by teaching you strategies for monitoring and responding to legal reviews efficiently on your google business profile. It covers:
Below, we’ve covered five best practices to follow when you respond to positive, mixed, or negative reviews: be professional, respond swiftly, express gratitude, personalize each reply, and offer follow-up support.
One of the purposes of responding to reviews is to make current and potential clients feel comfortable working with your law firm. That means you should also avoid using “legalese” while still maintaining a polite, professional tone.
No one wants to hire an attorney who treats them like a case instead of an individual – especially not in a practice area like personal injury, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or criminal defense, where clients often face tough emotional challenges.
Personalizing your responses to online reviews is a simple way to show that you care about and empathize with your client base.
Potential clients expect attorneys to meet legal deadlines and handle their cases efficiently. Responding swiftly to online reviews is an easy way to demonstrate how organized and attentive your team is. Aim to respond within 24 hours of receiving new reviews, and prioritize responding to your worst reviews first.
You can dramatically increase your average response speed by leveraging a review response service to generate responses for you. We’ll cover that topic more later on in this guide.
Even when you receive a negative review, it's important to thank the reviewer for their feedback. By expressing gratitude instead of becoming defensive it shows that you treat clients with respect and take their concerns seriously.
While rules around client confidentiality prevent you from discussing the details of a legal issue in a public internet forum like Google, you can direct reviewers to contact you directly if they have any questions or concerns.
Where appropriate, you can also invite clients to retain your services again in the future and/or refer someone they know.
Now that we’ve covered some best practices for handling reviews from former clients, let’s look at a few examples of negative and positive reviews of law firms – and how those firms responded.
We’ve also included customizable templates you can use to respond to your own reviews, such as the reviews you receive on Google or FindLaw. If you are a business owner, check out this AI tools for small businesses.
Review type: Positive (5 stars)
Customizable response template: "Thanks for taking the time to leave a review for [Law Firm Name], [Reviewer Name]! Our mission is always to provide a positive client experience, and we’re thrilled to know that our representation exceeded your expectations. If there’s anything else that our team can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly at [phone number or email address]. Thanks again for your positive review and rating, [Reviewer Name]."
Review type: Positive (5 stars)
Customizable response template: "Thanks for your positive review, [Reviewer Name]! We’re sincerely grateful for your kind words about the skill and compassion of our legal team. It was our pleasure to provide you and your family with the thorough, aggressive advocacy that [Firm Name] is known for. If you have any questions regarding your case, or if there are any other matters that we can assist you with, please feel free to contact our law offices 24/7 at [phone number]. On behalf of the entire team at [Firm Name], thanks again for your kind comments.”
Review type: Negative (1 star)
Customizable response template: "Thank you for your rating and review, [Reviewer Name]. We are truly sorry to hear that you were dissatisfied with the representation you received, as we are committed to providing our clients with stellar service and aggressive legal advocacy. We value transparency and communication, which is why we discuss our fee structure in detail with potential clients before accepting new cases. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your case or our fee structure, we encourage you to contact our office at [phone number or email address] so that we can better assist you. We hope to hear more from you soon, [Reviewer Name].”
Review type: Negative (1 star)
Customizable response template: "Hi [Reviewer Name], thank you for taking the time to leave a review of our law firm. We are deeply sorry to hear that you were disappointed in the legal service you received. At [Firm Name], we take pride in providing aggressive advocacy and a high level of client satisfaction, and our team would value an opportunity to discuss your concerns in more detail. Please reach out to our law office directly by contacting [phone number or email address], and our client service representatives will be happy to provide you with prompt assistance. We look forward to hearing from you soon.”
Review type: Negative (1 star)
Customizable response template: "Thank you for rating and reviewing our legal practice, [Reviewer Name]. Your feedback is sincerely appreciated. We encourage you to contact us at [phone number or email address] if you need assistance or would like to discuss any concerns regarding your legal matter. Our team would be glad to answer any questions you might have and provide you with further support. Once again, we appreciate your review and look forward to speaking with you soon, [Reviewer Name].”
In addition to monitoring and responding to your Google reviews, you should also monitor review platforms specific to the legal industry.
If you want to build a strong online presence, here are four attorney review sites you need to be active on in 2024:
Avvo.com is an online legal directory where consumers can rate and review lawyers – and attorneys can show off their expertise by answering questions related to their practice area.
According to Martindale-Avvo, this platform receives over 8 million visitors per month, making it an important review site to monitor in 2024.
This platform features “exclusive ratings and reviews of more than 1 million lawyers,” according to its website.
According to Attorney Marketing Solutions, “Lawyers.com has a high Moz authority rating, giving your firm extra credibility and authority.” That’s a compelling reason to consider being listed on the platform, along with its sheer popularity – about 25 million monthly visitors.
FindLaw.com is an attorney directory that also features client ratings and reviews.
According to FindLaw, the platform receives over 11 million monthly visitors, making it an important review site to monitor and be active on.
Martindale-Hubbell describes itself as “the authority in attorney reviews and ratings, citing its 130-year history.
Martindale-Hubbell pulls in client ratings and reviews from Avvo.com, Lawyers.com, and other legal directories. Client reviews are separate from Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Rating system based on peer review.
Responding swiftly and courteously to online reviews can show potential clients that your law firm is trustworthy, professional, and organized. That enables you to attract more clients, get more reviews, and boost your local SEO.
ResponseScribe lets you reap these benefits while reducing your workload by responding to reviews on your firm's behalf. So, how does it work?
By leveraging ResponseScribe, you can completely eliminate the time-consuming task of manual review response – no matter how many clients or locations you practice in.
Responding to online reviews with compassion, speed, and professionalism sends a powerful signal to potential clients that your law firm is trustworthy and capable. ResponseScribe makes responding to reviews effortless, enabling you to establish credibility and boost your law firm's visibility – without the hassle and inefficiency of manual review management.
Discover how you can leverage ResponseScribe to grow your practice in 2024. Get started with our personalized review response service for lawyers today.
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